News

The South West Procurement Alliance (SWPA) is based in Exeter and comprises of a locally based team of six who dedicate their time to improving lives and places, through viable and efficient procurement solutions in the South West. SWPA are a regional business unit of LHC PG, who has over 50 years of procurement experience. Along with being a not-for-profit organisation and framework specialist, together nationally with LHC PG, SWPA is a procurement solutions provider who delivers added value services and social value through projects, emphasised further by LHC’s newly released Social Value Strategy.

Penny Searson, Regional Manager, heads the team and is supported by Kaye Wills (Technical Support Manager), Heather Rowland (Regional Procurement Manager), Rosie Bates (Client Support Manager), Dominika Plucha (Client Research Officer) and Poppy Stockport (Marketing and Communications Officer).

Throughout April 2023 to April 2024, SWPA has held key events and knowledge sharing conferences with colleagues, industry specialists, clients, and appointed Companies. Amongst a variety of different site visits, and industry engagements, has been exponential growth throughout the team, both in the team itself and in project increase, enabling the team to invest further in local causes and community groups, through the Community Benefit Fund in the South West.

“2023 and 2024 has been a period of considerable change and significant growth for SWPA. It has been a privilege to work alongside our valued public sector clients, appointed companies, and industry partners to deliver a diverse range of projects and social value initiatives. We are feeling very optimistic for the future and look forward to continued support of regional priorities, with a focus on the delivery of much needed new homes, retrofit and decarbonisation, refurbishment, and compliance projects. ”

– Penny Searson, Regional Manager, SWPA

To kick off the new year, Kaye Wills took to the roads to see a variety of projects and construction sites, being delivered by SWPA’s frameworks. The first visited was a development of thirty homes for Aequus Construction Limited, the development arm of Bath and NES council, utilising Countryside Partnership as the primary contractor.

The second visit was in Dorset, to see Magna Housing working with Countryside Partnership (Drew Smith) to build a new, extra care home using the New Homes Framework (NH1). The third and final Spring visit was to Cornwall, to see Cornwall Council, with contractors Classic Builders, developing 15 new homes for the local community. This demonstrates a key focus on investing in local labour and assets, upskilling SMEs and improving the environmental footprint of construction.

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​​​Not too soon after, Kaye Wills and Mary Bennell (SWPA’s former Director) attended a Topping-Out Ceremony at St Martins in Gillingham, for the longest running project on the SWPA books. This project was for an extra care home in Gillingham, Dorset and was the first registered by the south west team in November 2017. It started on site on 21st October 2021 and is currently nearing completion. It will consist of 52 one and two bed flats with large communal areas, kitchens, activity rooms and a large, landscaped garden.

The project utilised an offsite manufactured steel framed system with metsec trusses, and a roofing system procured via the New Homes framework (NH1), installed by Countryside Partnerships (Drew Smith). The development in the small town of Gillingham, is an area with a number of historic buildings and one of the medieval walls was respectfully preserved and restored as part of the planning conditions.

The middle of 2023 saw great evolution and growth at SWPA, with Mary Bennell, SWPA’s Director at the time, retiring and Phil Blackmore stepping down from his role as Regional Procurement Manager. Penny Searson subsequently becoming Regional Manager, drawing upon a decade of experience across the business. SWPA then embarked on an exciting journey to grow the team and recruit for a Regional Procurement Manager, a Marketing Communications Officer, and a new Client Support Manager.

The Summer of 2023 heralded the long awaited SWPA Conference and AGM, which was held on 14^th June at Exeter Racecourse. The conference focussed on embedding social value into frameworks, which resulted in lively and productive discussion during the roundtable sessions. In addition, SWPA also launched the Consultancy Framework (CS1) and New Homes Framework (NH3), followed by the Committee AGM in the afternoon.

The event was very well attended with over 100 delegates, including representatives from client organisations, industry specialists and appointed companies. The team received positive feedback from the event and greatly looks forward to hosting the next one in 2024!​ Shortly after, Poppy Stockport joined the team as Marketing and Communications Officer, adding a brand new function to the team and increasing resources to enable more collaboration with clients and appointed companies. Heather Rowland was welcomed on board as well, as Regional Procurement Manager, strengthening the team further and bringing with her a wealth of expertise.

Kaye Wills, on behalf of SWPA, attended the Constructing Excellence South West Awards evening in Bristol. The hugely successful evening saw Rollalong take home the Modern Methods of Construction Award, from a project with Magna and Mid Devon District Council were awarded Client of the Year Award for their work with Zed Pods. Both the aforementioned client and appointed companies continue to use SWPA’s frameworks. Additionally, Mary Bennell, was granted the prestigious Lifetime Achiever’s Award, for her dedication to the built environment, and collaborative spirit.

In August, the SWPA team visited the Rollalong factory, based in Wimborne, Dorset. Rollalong specialise in modular offsite construction and are the largest offsite design and build contractor in the South of England. Joined by other LHC colleagues, the tour highlighted the importance of MMC homes, the need for sustainability and more eco-friendly processes, and how New Homes Framework (NH3) delivers this.

The start of September marked the official beginning of what is now a fruitful collaboration between SWPA and Green Accord. Both SWPA and Green Accord place a mutual importance on sustainability, the net zero mission and decarbonisation, in a bid for a greener and brighter future. Green Accord is an accreditation for businesses seeking to improve their sustainability, decrease their impact on the environment and avoid green washing, whilst supporting local businesses and SMEs.

The Autumn of 2023 saw SWPA’s LinkedIn engagement and following from clients and appointed companies increase to an unprecedented high, with nearly 500 new followers thanks to the team’s efforts to engage, along with great exposure, events, and through further collaborations and knowledge sharing. Autumn 2023 was a busy one for the team, who also had a key attendance and exhibited at the CIH South West Conference, which was a great opportunity for the team to catch up with clients, appointed companies, and regional partners. Additionally, SWPA held a Retrofit & Decarbonisation (N9) Framework, pre-tender engagement webinar and successful regional committee meeting, which is growing in numbers and impact.

At the beginning of October, Heather Rowland our new Regional Procurement Manager, was awarded her MCIPs qualification, a Corporate Award for Advanced Practitioner in procurement. This will be a hugely valuable contribution to our team and her skills as Regional Procurement Manager. Additionally, Poppy Stockport, our Marketing Communications Officer received a Merit in her MSc Business with Marketing Degree, again providing transitional skills which she can bring to her marketing tasks at SWPA.

More great news as the SWPA team attended an internal, social value roundtable held in Bristol facilitated by HACT for LHC PG. This brought to the fore interesting discussions and topical debates on what social value means to LHC and SWPA, and how we translate this appropriately and effectively into our daily work. An exciting advancement for SWPA who are looking forward to championing a new initiative which will further aid the South West and its local communities, through a new company-wide Social Value Strategy.

SWPA also organised a team voluntary beach clean in Teignmouth, to help the communities in Devon and Cornwall keep litter and rubbish off the beaches, keeping wildlife and children out of danger and ensuring these spaces, which are important to the communities, are preserved for all to enjoy.

The motivation behind what the SWPA team do on a day to day basis is the Community Benefit Fund, formerly working in partnership with South West Community Matters, to award local causes and community groups, with grants to support their positive initiatives, activities and daily functioning. One to note was October’s grant, which was awarded on behalf of our client Gloucestershire NHS, to the Forest Voluntary Action Forum, a worthy cause which formed in 1994 and has developed a reputation for encouraging, embracing, and enhancing community action throughout the Forest of Dean.

The Community Benefit Fund enabled many grants to be awarded throughout the year, and therefore many local South West community initiatives benefitted from this financial support. SWPA were able to award £22,000 to these groups, throughout the year and will continue to do so in the upcoming year, with the fund increasing to £90,000 in a bid to invest further in the support of the South West Communities. SWPA are incredibly proud of their contributions so far, to groups such as Cornwall 1 Parent, Incredible Edible, Baby Bank Network and more. Along with championing team well-being and co-ordinating the various business functions of the team, Dominika Plucha, SWPA’s Client Research Officer, managed the Community Benefit Fund and ensured the timely and efficient awarding of the grants.

November saw SWPA attending and exhibiting at the Constructing Excellence South West Construction and Housing Summit, where the team took part in some great MMC and industry-related discussions, as well as sitting in on informative talks and panel discussions. With some great talks with industry specialists, SWPA ran a competition and promotion, to increase their exposure and focus on brand positivity.

SWPA welcomed multiple members to their Associate Partner roster, including Cornwall Housing, Ocean Housing and the Ted Wragg Multi-Academy Trust, and the numbers continue to grow. Continuing on into December, team SWPA, Wiltshire Council, Magna Housing and Rollalong produced an impressive local press release, containing the details of 109 new MMC homes which have been created as part of this project. These 109 units were the start of 1,000 houses which will be built as part of an innovative, client aggregation project “the cluster”, via SWPA’s New Homes (NH2) Framework.

SWPA kicked off the festive season with a Christmas social media campaign, including a daily “Advent” post detailing a charity or community group. SWPA along with South West Community Matters, promoted the donated grants through the Community Benefit Fund, in the last six years, in an attempt to increase exposure for these smaller groups and share with the SWPA following on LinkedIn and Twitter. In the last six years, SWPA and South West Community Matters have delivered on over £88,000 to 40+ community groups across the region.

To end a great 2023, Kaye Wills and Poppy Stockport went to London to visit some of their LHC PG colleagues and support the Christmas Conference and Asset Safety and Compliance (ASC1) Launch, at the QE2 in Westminster. The team also headed out to St. Andrews site in Tiverton – a joint project with Mid Devon Council, SWPA and ZedPods – in creating more MMC homes (volumetric) and low carbon solutions for the South West.

January 2024 kicked off with SWPA welcoming their newest team member, Rosie Bates, appointed to the role of Client Support Manager, who brings with her a wealth of experience and industry connections. The team also held two well-attended webinars for the new Asset Safety & Compliance Framework (ASC1). Good discussions and information were shared, with the support of LHC PG Technical Team. SWPA have now started promoting their Asset Safety and Compliance Conference at the Forge, in Winslade Manor on 25^th April, along with the SWPA AGM and Social Value Conference in June 2024.

Furthermore, team SWPA attended the Constructing Excellence South West Annual Review and Luncheon, enjoying a great topical discussion into industry issues, upskilling and local collaborations in the South West.

Following on from this, Kaye Wills and Poppy Stockport visited various sites in Plymouth, and enjoyed a site visit to Urban Terrace, in Callington, a project with Cornwall Council and Classic Builders. The team have not stopped there, ending the year on a high by celebrating International Women’s Day and Women in Construction Week, with an impressive social media campaign, which can be found on the SWPA LinkedIn page.

 It has been an incredibly successful year for SWPA, witnessing considerable growth across the business with impressive projects and new collaborations; the team are looking forward to seeing what 2024 and 2025 brings!